W E D N E S D A Y
April 26, 2023 Vol. 43, No. 39
$2.00
JOURNAL
OAK PARK TOWNSHIP ASSESSMENT INSIDE
of Oak Park and River Forest
Public meeting packed. Developer says he is listening By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter
TODD A. BANNOR
By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter
Those who have ventured into Oak Park Village Hall are immediately greeted by a sign that reads, “WELCOME TO VILLAGE HALL.” The welcome, however, is perhaps muted by the fact that it hangs just below a rather unwelcoming
Page 12
Neighbors band against RidgelandChicago mid-rise
Barriers to open governent? Built to reflect open government, Oak Park’s village hall lobby still blocked with COVID barricades
Education & Camp guide
see-through barrier separating the citizenry from village staff. The barriers, which stretch across the lobby, are a remnant of a fraught time in recent history when public health agencies had not yet launched a vaccine offensive against COVID-19. See VILLAGE HALL on page 18
About 140 Oak Park residents showed up to Dole Library last Thursday evening in one of the largest public meetings Oak Park has seen in recent years. Not there to check out books or renew library cards, the considerable crowd assembled to hear plans for a new apartment complex at Chicago Avenue and Ridgeland in the Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District. And the attendees weren’t shy with their feedback for the developer. “There were a lot of, let’s say, comments that weren’t favorable,” said developer Tim Pomaville, See PUBLIC MEETING on page 21
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